


The Calling of the Light

by reylolives17



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Forbidden Love, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghosts, Force-Sensitive Rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-10 15:52:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13504782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reylolives17/pseuds/reylolives17
Summary: Supreme Leader Kylo Ren finally has everything that he worked so hard to achieve- the power and leadership of the biggest force in the galaxy, and soldiers who would do his bidding in an instant. However, the Force Connection- and Rey- still lurk in his mind, teasing Kylo at what him and Rey could have been. Or could still become.Rey, after the loss of her Master, Luke Skywalker, is teaching herself patterns of the force through the sacred Jedi texts becoming stronger in the light to match the power of the dark. Even though Luke said that she has everything that she needs, Rey feels as if she is missing something.When a powerful figure in Kylo’s mist takes his position and leaves him to burn, he turns to Rey to help him defeat the figure that is now threatening the fate of the entitle galaxy. Kylo might have grown out of the named position, but will Rey’s influence keep him out of the dark long enough to defeat the storm that is brewing?





	1. Chapter 1

 

     “Supreme Leader Ren, your ship is ready.”

  
      Kylo Ren looks down from his throne to look at the young stormtrooper standing in front of him. The stormtrooper, with the whites of his uniform seeming to contrast with the deep red of the room, was kneeling down in front of his Supreme Leader.

  
      _Supreme Leader_ Kylo thought. In all of his years or worshiping the past Supreme Leader, Snoke, he never thought that he would get to be in this position. To be able to sit above everyone else, to be able to execute his power and rule the galaxy under the First Order - the most powerful force in the galaxy. The new Supreme Leader was full of power. His throne room reflected that.

  
      Built in a similar fashion to that of his previous master, Snoke, it was a round room with red walls on three sides, except for the entrance, in which their walls were covered in black. Black also shared the floor as well, with the color of the wall seeming to trickle down and run on the floor like water from a waterfall. Anyone who has the privilege to talk to the Supreme Leader had to walk within the white lines highlighting a path to Kylo on the floor to face the Supreme Leader, sitting in all black on his throne.

  
      Kylo did not have that much of a say in the design of his new throne room. All he requested was that it was in similar fashion to that of Snokes. That was not what he wanted, however. Let the past die he once said. Kill it, if you must. With the death of Snoke and Captain Phasma, Kylo set out to place a new order on the galaxy - one with control and order. He wanted to let go of all of the memories of his former master, but if anyone suspected that he was against the previous Supreme Leader, who knows what they would do to him. They still suspected that Rey had killed the Supreme Leader and then fled, and Kylo did not need anyone to know that he was the one who killed his master. With those deaths, Kylo started fresh on a new page with one goal: to have the galaxy at his fingertips. Part of that plan, as laid out by Hux, was to defeat those sniveling rebels.

  
      “They are rebel scum, and they must be taken out.” Hux had said to Kylo during one of their daily meetings. “They are a threat to the peace and order that we are trying to create.”

  
       Kylo did agree with Hux in that moment, and Hux set out to start the manhunt to try to find the rebels on whichever planet they were trying to form a base on. A few weeks ago, Hux had run into Kylo’s throne room (without permission, which Kylo abhorred) and exclaimed: “We found them.”

  
       Kylo, instantly interested, sat up. “Where?”

  
      “A small planet called Kinhot. It hasn't been inhabited for over 50 years, and it’s almost the size of a moon - small enough to escape some of our most advanced trackers. A perfect place for the Rebellions base. If we can catch them by surprise, we could launch an attack that would take out their base and force them to surrender to the power of the First Order” Hux looked at Kylo, who was deep in thought.

  
      Kylo closed his eyes. In that moment, he had two choices.

  
      One, go to Kinhot and attack the rebel forces that were there. Try to extinguish the previous spark that had turned into the roaring flame of the rebellion. To  make the point that he was in charge now and that the entire galaxy would have to listen to him, even if they did not want to. He could prove to the First Order that he meant business and that he was the ruler that they had only hoped that Snoke would be.

  
      Two, to just leave them alone. He knew who was there. He knew what risk he would be taking. He knew that the rebellion was growing stronger by the day and that his equal in the force was a part of those who were growing in their power. The last time he had tried to shut down the rebellion, at the point where they were at their weakest, he was tricked and they had escaped. But that was back then when he had just inherited the title of Supreme Leader and was working off of impulsive actions. Since then, he had grown stronger in his powers in the force, however, he felt people still talking about the impulsive Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. There were people in that band of rebels whom Kylo felt a connection to, and that if he killed them, he could never forgive himself. Not after murdering his own father in order to prove something to Snoke.

  
      But this attack, if it went well, could change that. People could realize that he had grown out of the Darth-Vader worshipping apprentice to Snoke and had morphed into a capable leader who would stop at nothing to give the galaxy what they deserved - peace and order.

  
      Kylo opened his eyes and looked at Hux, who was standing in front of him, listening for his command.

  
      “Kylo Ren, we have to…”

  
      Kylo looked up and snarled “Its Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. General Hux, I do not know how many times I have to repeat myself. You call me what my new name is now. Is that understood.”

  
      Hux nodded submissively.

  
      “Yes, Supreme Leader. What I was going to ask is that I can let out an announcement for an attack on the rebels at Kinhot if you feel like it is necessary. A few of the other captains are in full support of this initiative and would be ready at your command.”

  
      _Was that a note of sarcasm in his voice?_   Kylo wondered as the ginger General looked up at him.

  
      Kylo weighed his options once again. After a moment of silence, he nodded his head.

  
      “Very well, General Hux. Make the announcement.” Hux nodded. “The only thing, however, is that I will be in charge of this attack.”

  
      “But, Supreme Leader…” Hux started.

  
      “You don't know what we are going up against. They have with them the Last Jedi. Who knows how strong she has gotten with the Force since we last saw her.” Kylo flashed back to just before the Skywalker lightsaber snapped in half, the moment when he offered Rey control of the galaxy. Looking as if she was going to submit to his request, she had taken the lightsaber and attempted to take it out of his grasp. He didn't know that she was that strong. And she could only be getting stronger.

  
      He wanted to see her again. He needed to see her again. When their eyes both met when she was getting into the Falcon, he felt a connection between them that he thought had just been imaginary. There was something about her that he had never seen in anyone else. She had a spark in her, something that he admired. But she closed the door. She shut him out. He was devastated, but he used that sadness to fuel his energy that he was putting into the Supreme Leader.

       Since then, he hasn't heard or felt anything from her, which was probably a good thing.

  
      “But Supreme Leader….”

  
      “General Hux.” Kylo roared. “I have made my choice.”

  
      “But who would lead the First Order when you are gone?”

  
      Kylo stopped. He had not thought of that. Of course, he could just project a hologram of himself in, but that would be a risk in case there would be a stormtrooper who would try to take over the First Order in his absence. And Hux would probably come with him to attack the rebels. A hologram might be the best idea, however, due to his power in the force leading him to feel every vibration of the machine that was the First Order. He didn't trust Hux more than he would trust a rock to lead the First Order.

  
      “I will project myself in.” When he saw Hux open his mouth, he waved his hand. “No objections, General Hux. I know what I'm doing.”

  
      Hux nodded, yet as he got up, Kylo felt Hux roll his eyes. Wanting to throw him across the room like a rag doll, Kylo reached out his hand, but then remembered that he needed Hux for this attack. Kylo sat down and waved his hand, telling Hux that he wished for him to leave. Hux left and organized the attack.

  
      Coming back to present time, Kylo looked down at the Stormtrooper kneeling in front of him.

      “Thank you, TL-705,” he said as he got up, and started to walk down the stairs leading to his throne.

  
      The stormtrooper rose and walked behind Kylo as he strode out of the throne room, his cape billowing behind him. His stormtroopers knew when he meant business. He had on his battle suit, the same one that he had worn for years, with his red lightsaber clipped to his belt, giving a warning to anyone who would have their doubts about him. As he walked into the hallway, Stormtroopers scattered to the side of the dark hallways to let him pass.

  
      The way that his throne room was designed, it was connected to his ship through a long hallway, a short way if he needed to get to his ship in a hurry. As he strode down the hallway, Hux met up with him.

  
      “Kylo… I mean Supreme Leader Ren, we have our battle plans all set up. I'll explain them to you on the ship.”

  
      “Good. Thank you, General Hux.” Kylo had to admit, as much as he wanted to rip Hux apart sometimes, Hux knew what to do to win.

  
      Hux split from Kylo, calling together through his comlink the troops that were to accompany them to Kinhot.

  
      Kylo proceded through the hallway and onto the platform that held one ship only - his personal command shuttle. There were a couple of stormtroopers guarding the entrance, and they saluted to Kylo as he went upon it, boarding it before he closed the entrance.

  
      As soon as he boarded the ship, he suddenly stopped. He felt, something-something that he had not felt since…

  
      Without a word to the stormtroopers, he launched himself into the front of the ship and closed the entrance, leaving just himself and his thoughts. Kylo sat down, trying to control his emotions. Sitting in silence, he felt his view of the world presented to him at the moment start to disappear around him, instead being replaced with one of a dark room with grey walls and single bed, in which a single figure was starting to come into view under the sunlight streaming into it from one single window.

  
      _Rey._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey, now a respected member of the Resistance, is teaching herself about the Force and trying to get a grasp on the memories that she has of Kylo, when she feels something that she hasnt felt in a long time.

      Rey ran her fingers over the yellow, worn out pages of the Ancient Jedi texts. She still could not believe that she managed to steal the books before she fled the island. Sneaking in after she left Luke Skywalker laying down stunned, she grabbed the books and ran, placing them in a drawer on the Falcon where she knew that no one would find them. Until Finn, unknowingly, opened up it to get Rose, a maintenance worker who helped Finn when she was training with Luke, some bandages. He had looked up at her with a questioning expression to which she responded “Jedi texts.” 

      Without questioning her again, Finn had gone back to Rose, who was still in an unconscious state. Rey looked up at them, thinking about everything that had happened in the past couple of days, most of the thoughts being about Kylo Ren. 

      Kylo Ren. That name vibrated in her mind, not leaving no matter how hard she tried to forget. When their hands touched in the hut on Luke's island, she felt a connection between them. They were both so lonely- but yet they had each other. He had offered her the galaxy. Kylo told her that she was nothing, that her parents were nothing. But not to me he had said, begging her to join him through the look of his eyes. It was tempting, Rey remembered, especially when Kylo whispered, his voice on the brink of breaking, please. She had to deny. Rey couldn't do it. She couldn't betray her friends, the people that she considered as her second family. So, she ran. She fled back to the rebellion using Snoke's personal craft. To the place that she knew she belonged to the people that she knew she belonged with. 

      Her friends. She smiled to herself just thinking about them. Finn - her best friend, her partner in crime, the one that had gotten her out of the junk hole that was Jakku. He had protected her, stood by her side, protecting her from Kylo on Starkiller Base before she knew of her true power. His back was sliced by Kylo, and she hadn't seen him until she lifted the rocks on Crait. They saw each other at the same time, and when she did, she was so happy that she let go of the rocks and they embraced as if they were the only two people in the world. They had faced numerous obstacles together, such as seeing the death of Han Solo, and they, Rey hoped, would continue to face the world together. 

      During their adventures while trying to find Luke Skywalker, Rey had the feeling that Finn was developing feelings for her, but as soon as they got on the Falcon off of Crait, Rey saw that Finn clearly cared deeply about Rose, whom he told her was one of the bravest members of the Resistance that he knew of (other than her, of course). The way that he looked at her sleeping told her that he was true to his word. Rey couldn't wait to meet Rose when she woke up, as she was still in recovery and was not allowed to have any visitors other than Finn and a couple of other important people. 

      Finn had updated her on everything that happened when she was gone. In short, Princess Leia recovered shortly from being blown out of the ship that she was in, and when she was unconscious, Admiral Holdo took over, whom Poe Dameron did not like and tried to get some people together to defy her orders, but she ended up saving the rebel cause at the cost of her own life. Rey had asked if anything had happened to him and Rose, and he said in a guarded way that they were betrayed and almost executed. Finn also told her that he killed Captain Phasma. 

      “Well, I wounded her enough and then she fell into a pit of flames.” He had claimed, and when Rey gave him a questioning look, he held his hands up and said “What? I tired her out.” Rey had started laughing after she heard that - seems like Finn never changed. 

      Rey returned from her thoughts and continued to flip through the pages of the text. These books were all that she had left, after the death of Luke Skywalker. Her master, and father figure after Han Solo perished, he had died in peace, fading into the Force. Sometimes Rey thinks that she hears his voice during some of her training sessions, edging her on to try new things with the Force.  

      She stopped on a page and ran her finger over it. It was talking about Force Throwing, something that she needed more practice with - especially considering that she was now one of the most important fighters to the Rebel cause. She could pull things to her with the Force, like Kylo Ren's lightsaber in the Throne Room, but Force Throwing is something that she was never able to manage. Rey looked around for something that she could throw. The room that she was in, with its grey walls and a single bed, contained a shelf with the Jedi Texts on them. Her eyes fell onto a glass of water sitting on a table. 

      Pulling it to her with the Force, she gulped it down, and set it in front of her. 

      Closing her eyes, she reached out. She could feel the energy of all of the objects around her, but she focused on the glass. Rey pictured it - smooth. White. She could feel it start to tremble as she wrapped her mind around it, levitating it into the air. She felt another presence enter that of the Force, that of a person, but she did not focus on that presence- for the door to the room was closed. When she was with Luke, he had taught her to not focus on anything else other than what she was trying to control at the moment. He said that being distracted was not a good thing, especially when it came to life-death situations. Rey refocused on the glass that was in the air and stretched her hand out, shoving it with her mind until she heard the door open. Rey opened her eyes suddenly and the glass dropped into the hands of Poe Dameron, who was standing in the frame of the door. 

      Annoyed, Rey looked at Poe. 

      “What are you doing? Why didn't you knock?” 

      “I didn't think that you would be preoccupied. Sorry ‘bout that.” Poe observed the glass that he held in his hand and placed it down on the table next to him. 

      “Anyways, I need to talk to you about the latest update to our protection system,” Poe said, looking at Rey. “Also, what were you practicing today?” 

      “Force throw. It's something that I have yet to master.” Rey stood up, cleaning herself off. Sitting on the floor for a period of time tends to make people dusty. 

      Poe nodded, smiling at her. “That's cool. Anyways, the system…"

      Rey had just met the daring and handsome pilot a couple of months ago on the Falcon but had heard many stories of him from Finn. That he had saved the rebellion by his daring trench run on Starkiller Base and that he was the best pilot in the Resistance. Rey also knew that Kylo had tortured him on Starkiller when he was taken prisoner and before he was saved by an escaping Finn. When she had met him, he looked at her with a kind of fascination, one that no one had looked at her with since Kylo had when she first called Luke's lightsaber in the forest on Starkiller.  He was very headstrong, and Rey had witnessed that trait on a couple of occasions, including a time when Poe was arguing with Leia about sending ships out to a friendly planet. 

      However, Poe was deeply caring, and that he would go to the ends of the galaxy for people that he cared about, even defying orders. He liked asking Rey about what she was doing with the Force, telling her that when he was younger he had only heard of usage of the Force in stories and that he could not believe that the things in the stories were true. Rey sometimes lets him and Finn sit in on some of her sessions, performing simple tasks using the Force. It made her smile when they both were in admiration of her powers. She shares everything with Finn and Poe - well, not everything. They still don't know about her connections with Kylo - if they both knew, they would freak out and that is something that Rey prefers not to have. 

     “Rey? Are you listening?” 

      She shook her head, obviously being out of it. “Huh?” 

      Poe looked at her and sighed. “I knew better not to distract you during your meditations.” 

    “Well I'm sorry, but who was the one that barged in? And it's not ‘meditations.’” Rey made quote marks with her hands when she said “meditations.” “It's training.” 

    “You’re right. I'm sorry Rey.” Poe looked like he meant it, and Rey nodded to say that it was ok. 

      Poe opened his mouth to say something else when Rey felt the presence of someone else in the doorframe. She looked up to see Finn, with a huge smile on his face. 

   “Hi, Finn! What’s up?” She asked him, standing up. 

      He was grinning uncontrollably, she noticed, so it must be good news. 

      “Rose is ready to meet visitors now. She said that she would love to meet you guys.” 

      Poe and Rey both looked at each other with a grin then stood up and followed Finn out of the bedroom and into the dark brown hallway. 

     The new rebel homestead was something that Rey actually felt at home in. Kinhot is a planet that is super small, so any trackers would have difficulty picking it up. The base had a couple of small buildings that lay in the mist of a cliff. They linked with a single hallway, so it was easy to travel between them. Rey had helped with the building, levitating different items to certain places for them to be attached together. Leia said that it reminded her of a story that Luke once told her, how when he was on Dagobah training with Yoda in his youth that he was asked to levitate different stones, and how Yoda pulled up his X-Wing out of the swamp, to Lukes astonishment. 

      “He would be proud of you, Rey.” Leia had told her, putting a hand on her shoulder after the had lifted the final piece into place. 

      Rey smiled at the thought as she followed Poe and Finn through the control room, with a lot of computers and people sitting at their posts, talking to one another about a multitude of things, ranging from the weather to coordinating visits with planets that were friendly to the resistance. Ever since that day where they escaped from Crait, many planets had gotten the distress signal and had given the Resistance their support, whether it was in terms of military or human. The Resistance was getting on its feet again and would be willing to face the First Order when the time came. 

      Rey was walking after Poe and Finn when she felt something. Something that she had not felt in a long time. Something that meant - 

      “Poe! Finn! I'm sorry, but I'm feeling sick. I have to go…” Rey sprinted back, past the control panels and back to her room, where she closed the door and locked it. She sat on the bed, feeling her senses start to tingle. Looking around her, Rey noticed that the world that she saw was starting to fade, being replaced by one of a dark ship, with a single figure forming in front of her eyes. She drew in a gasp. 

_       Kylo.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren and Rey meet face to face for the first time after Rey left Kylo on the Millennium Falcon.

   Soon, the small, dainty figure of Rey started to form before him. 

 Kylo blinked. He was not used to this. Being able to see not only Rey but the environment that she was in. It must have been a sign that not only was she growing in the Force, but so was he. 

 She noticed that he was there too, and they both stared at each other with a blank expression. 

   Rey had grown since they last saw each other. She looked more stressed, with eyebags starting to fill in under her hazel eyes. Her brown hair was let down in her typical half-up-half down pattern. 

   But Kylo could sense that she was more mature. More filled with responsibility and purpose than when he last saw her. She was wearing the same thing since he had last seen her - the outfit that caused him pain whenever he thought of it. But most of all, he could feel her power. She had grown stronger in the Force, he had noticed. Stronger in the light to match his growing power in the dark. But she was still beautiful in the way that she held herself, looking at him with the same expression as she did when the Force connected her during the rainstorm. 

 He noticed her surroundings as well. It must have been in the new rebel base - Rey seemed to have made herself comfortable in this room. Kylo reached out and felt a small pull coming from some books that she had on the shelves. 

 “Rey.” He said quietly. 

She was silent, still looking at him with questioning eyes. He waited for her to saying something...anything. But she did not say a word. 

Kylo looked down and back up at Rey, searching her eyes for any emotion. They were cold. 

“Why didn't you kill me?” Kylo asked. 

Rey seemed taken aback by the question, blinking in confusion. 

“What do you mean?” Rey responded, a note of suspicion in her voice. 

  Kylo stood up. “You know what I mean. After the fight. After we were both knocked out senseless. After you left me and escaped with Snoke's shuttle. I know, Rey. We both know what happened. You could have taken my lightsaber and struck me down, just as I did with Snoke.” 

 Rey stood up in anger. 

  “Because I couldn't do it. I'm not as strong as you are, Kylo, in the dark. I couldn't just kill someone out of hate.”  She took a shaky breath. “Like I know you can.” 

    Kylo blinked, the words that he was going to say escaping from his mind. His father. She was thinking about the death of his father, he knew. How Kylo had led his father on to believe that he was going to rejoin him and his mother and instead killed him to prove something to Snoke. It still haunted him, the look in his father's eyes before he fell off of the walkway, never to be seen again. Rey had witnessed it, he knew - he could sense her pain and her anger as the traitor Finn pulled her away. 

   “You could have, Rey. You could have grabbed my lightsaber, and killed me in a single blow. I know you had it in you.” 

   Eyes blazing, she snapped “How dare you think that I would murder you? After everything that had happened, did you think that I would kill the person that I had released my inner thoughts to?” Rey moved closer to Kylo. He looked down at her with surprise behind his eyes. He couldn't believe how upset she was, even after all this time that they had been separated. 

   “I wanted you to turn, Kylo. I wanted to be the person to achieve what both of your parents and Luke Skywalker had failed to do. I wanted to bring you home. To turn you away from the dark and into the light.” She looked up at him, her teary hazel eyes meeting his. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop looking into her eyes as she said, “I can still sense the light in you, Kylo. No matter how hard you try to push it out, it is still in there.”  

    She called him Kylo. After all, that time separated from each other, Rey must have gone back to calling him by the name that he had given the dark side of himself. As much as he liked Rey calling him by any name, the way that she said “Ben” made him feel something. Getting called Kylo, the man whom she thought before was comparable to a monster, was like a slap in the face. 

   Kylo looked at Rey. She was so full of hope, yet sadness. 

   “Rey, you know that I cannot turn. I'm the Supreme Leader of the First Order, and for me to keep this position that I worked so hard to achieve, I have to stay right here. Its where I belong. I can't let myself be overrun by my emotions to make decisions that could affect millions of people.” 

“How is that relevant when your so-called ‘order’ that is supposed to bring peace to the galaxy is killing numerous innocent people just because they do not agree with you?” Rey’s hope had now turned to anger. She shook her head at him. “And I thought that you could change.” 

That was even harder for a slap then being called “Kylo.” 

   “Rey,” Kylo said, but she kept going. 

 “Why did you go this way? I begged you not to, yet you did.” 

Kylo could start to feel himself getting angry at her. His voice almost betraying their hidden conversation, he quietly snapped, “Then why did you shut me out? Why Rey? When you left with the Falcon, I wanted you to come back. To show me the light that I desperately needed.” 

Rey stood up suddenly, pointing a finger at him. 

“I know what you did. You played a part in killing Luke Skywalker. You tried to kill the entire resistance! Even though I had told you everything! All of my worries, my fears.” 

   In a quieter voice, she said: “For goodness sake, you even know who my parents are!”

   “Do you know how much it stings when someone says that your parents were nothing. That you were nothing, then tries to cover it up by saying ‘But not to me?” 

   Kylo closed his eyes, remembering that moment. He wanted to tell Rey that he cared for her deeply. That he was not necessarily in love with the scavenger, but that he wanted her to rule by his side. He had known it from the moment he saw her in the interrogation room for the first time when he took off his helmet. She was strong, capable of doing amazing things with a power that she didn't even know that she had. She read his mind, and he read his. Rey knew his deepest secret, and he knew hers. In that moment, after they had fought side by side as if they had been fighting for years, he saw her not as a traitor to the First Order, but as someone who could balance him out- the light spirit to his dark rage. With the flames seeming to light up her face, he had almost gotten down on his hands and knees to beg for her to join him to restore order to the galaxy. 

“Please” He had said in a quiet, low tone, almost breaking. She had looked at him with tears in her eyes, and when she reached out her hand, he had thought that she had made up her mind and actually decided to join him. His heart leaped, and he was on the verge of thinking what to do next when she grabbed his grandfather's lightsaber, and, well, he couldn't remember anything else that happened after that moment. 

Kylo breathed out. “Rey. In that moment, I saw us joining together as a union, as light and dark, to face the hatred and evil of the galaxy together.” 

 “Just think about what we could have been. That fight, when I fought with you I felt as if I was fighting with my other half. We worked so well together, Rey.” 

   To his surprise, she nodded. “I know.” 

   Silence filled the space between them. Kylo’s eyes started to scan the room when they fell on the books in the corner that seemed to be glowing in the Force. Could they be-? When he started to walk over, he could feel a light tap on his shoulder. 

   “No. Those are mine, and they are for my eyes only.” Rey called. 

   He tried to move forward again, his curiosity starting to pull him towards the books, but Rey was suddenly in front of him. When Kylo tried to move again, she placed her hands on his chest, prepared to shove him away. 

   A motion that made his breath go away. 

   Just the feeling of her touch made him think back to when their hands had touched before. Kylo could remember that a single tear ran down her cheek, for a reason that he did not know why, before his uncle blasted the hut apart. He had felt sparks between them then, as he is feeling now. Kylo did not want to admit to himself that he was doing so, but he deeply cared for this women, no matter how he talked to her or was seen by her. People that saw him in the First Order thought that he did not have a heart or that he was an emotionless soul when in reality he cared deeply for this scavenger. If people, his troops, knew that he had fallen for a scavenger, he was positive that they would lose respect for him as their leader. 

   Rey seemed to feel it too. He could sense her tense up, perhaps remembering the time that she had caught him shirtless during one of their Force sessions and hadn't said anything for a good 30 seconds. She kept her hands on his chest for a minute, them both not saying a word, but letting silence fill the space between them. 

   When she took them off, Kylo felt disappointed. He wanted to feel her touch again. 

   Rey walked back to the bed, sitting down. Kylo moved to be in front of her. Kylo said nothing until he heard a noise behind him. 

_  Shit  _

The other stormtroopers on his shuttle were banging on the door of the cockpit. Kylo knew that it was to let him know to start the shuttle and make their way towards Kinhut. 

Where Rey was sitting there, unaware of what was coming. 

Kylo knew that he could do two things, either don't let Rey know about the attack or let her know about the attack and risk not pulling the mission off, to the disappointment of his fellow members of the First Order. 

He wouldn't let his militia and the people under his control think that he was weak. 

“What was that?”  

Kylo turned around. Rey looked confused as she looked at him. 

“Rey…” 

 With those words, the world spun around him and he was sitting in his pilot's chair, with Rey nowhere to be seen. 

Kylo heard the knocking even more now and lazily opened the door with the Force. Two stormtroopers came in and saluted to him. Kylo acknowledged them with a little wave of his hand. 

 “Supreme Leader, we are good to leave.” 

 Kylo nodded and closed his eyes for a brief moment, placed in the coordinates for Kinhut. He started the shuttle, and they took off. 

 He knew what he had to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to consist of this same conversation, but from Reys POV!   
> As always, thank you for reading! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's Point of View of her first meeting with Kylo Ren since she left him on the Millennium Falcon, with shocking news from Finn.

   Slowly, before Rey's eyes, the figure of Kylo Ren formed in front of her. 

He was sitting in a cockpit, Rey noticed. Starting at her as if he couldn't believe his eyes. With both of his hands set out on the sides of the pilot's chair, he looked like the leader that he was. 

   Rey stared at him with a blank expression, like when she saw him during their Force Session when she was training with Luke. They both had not seen each other since she had shut him out on Crait while helping the remnants of the Resistance board the Falcon. Since she had last seen him, he looked to be under more stress, perhaps because he was leading the most powerful, ruthless Order in the Galaxy. His black hair was the same and his brown eyes looked soft, even hopeful, at the sight of her. She had to admit, she kind of liked looking into those eyes, especially when he had looked down at her in the elevator before they saw Snoke. Rey had seen a different side of Kylo then - the side of him that was Ben Solo. The side that she wanted to save. Not the ruthless monster that Kylo Ren was. Not the leader that was sitting in front of her. 

   She opened her mouth to say something when Kylo said quietly “Rey.” 

   Rey closed her mouth. She had only heard him say her name like that once before - when he was asking her to join him after killing Snoke. Before she refused and he let loose all of the anger that he held inside of him. Before they both ripped apart the Skywalker lightsaber. 

   She was about to ask him why they had such a connection in the elevator when Kylo said “Why didn't you kill me?” 

Rey was taken aback for a second. That was such an emotionally charged question. Suspicious of why he would ask it, she responded: “What do you mean?” 

 Kylo suddenly stood up, perhaps to attempt to project the power that he had over her in that moment. Looking down at her, he said “You know what I mean. After the fight. After we were both knocked out senseless. After you left me and escaped with Snoke's shuttle. I know, Rey. We both know what happened. You could have taken my lightsaber and struck me down, just as I did with Snoke” 

 Rey looked at him, stunned. She could remember that she, in fact, had thought about killing Kylo with one smooth stroke. After trying to take her lightsaber back, it split, knocking both her and Kylo out, but Rey woke up after 10 minutes. She could remember moment clearly - looking over at Kylos slumped body, still knocked out, lying there on the floor, flames starting to die down around them. She could have killed him - he was now the Supreme Leader, and she could prevent many unnecessary deaths from happening. Rey could have just taken his lightsaber and killed him right there. But there was something that was stopping her from doing so. She couldn't just kill someone because of his past. Kylo Ren, even though he was a monster at times, could be turned. Rey had felt it when their hands had touched. He had a bit of light in him, probably even now, as he was looking at her from the cockpit of whatever ship he was in. She couldn't just let that little flicker of light be extinguished. 

   However, he was a man who did kill someone out of hatred. Every time she looked at Kylo, she saw a bit of Han Solo. In his nose, the way that he sometimes spoke, his tall, lumbering figure. He had killed his own father in order to prove something to Snoke, even though he claimed that he didn't hate his father during one of their Force sessions. A person had to be very strong on the dark side to have the ability to kill his own father. Rey hated him for that - and she wanted to remind him of that before he thought that she forgot. She would never forget what he did. 

Standing up in anger, Rey snapped “Because I couldn't do it. I'm not as strong as you are, Kylo, in the dark. I couldn't just kill someone out of hate. Like I know you can.” She could tell that the last sentence packed a punch, and Kylo looked at her, looking surprised that she even mentioned that. He looked… hurt. 

 She could also feel pain within him, perhaps the pain of the memory of killing his own father. Looking up at her, he said “You could have, Rey. You could have grabbed my lightsaber, and killed me in a single blow. I know you had it in you.” 

   Rey was furious now. How dare he think that she would murder him, after fighting together against the guards, after seeing him kill Snoke to perhaps protect her?

   “How dare you think that I would murder you? After everything that had happened, did you think that I would kill the person that I had released my inner thoughts to?” Rey stood up and stepped closer to Kylo, and he looked down at her with surprise in her eyes. She felt something inside of her break when mentioning her previous mentor. She had felt that she failed him. 

   Before she left,  Rey declared that she was going to turn Kylo Ren - making sure to tell Master Luke that it was something that he had never been able to do. If she had succeeded, perhaps Kylo would be right next to her at the moment, helping her with her training sessions. But she failed. He was leading one of the most horrible forces in the galaxy, letting the dark side run his soul. 

   Rey looked up and into Kylo’s eyes, preparing herself to address him again. He blinked when they made eye contact, and Rey felt trapped looking in his eyes. She tried to take them away, but the way that he was looking at her made her keep staring defiantly into his eyes.

   Rey said quietly, “I can still sense the light in you, Kylo. No matter how hard you try to push it out, it is still in there.”  

   After she said that, she realized that this was the first time that she had called him “Kylo” instead of “Ben” since they had last seen each other. Kylo seemed to recognize it too, his eyes widening as if he was slapped in the face. 

   Who Rey saw in front of her was not the man that she had seen fighting with her against Snoke and talking to her about them being alone, yet being there for each other. She saw someone with power, someone who would be willing to do anything to win. She still had thoughts lingering in the back of her mind that she could perhaps turn him to the light, but she knew that at this point it would be impossible. 

   Kylo looked at her and said “Rey, you know that I cannot turn. I'm the Supreme Leader of the First Order, and for me to keep this position that I worked so hard to achieve, I have to stay right here. Its where I belong. I can't let myself be overrun by my emotions to make decisions that could affect millions of people.” 

   Rey felt fury light inside of her. Decisions that could affect millions of people? The order that Kylo was running was ruthless. Rey knew that from Finn, who abandoned the First Order after his first mission, that he saw Kylo strike down innocent men and Stormtroopers massacring a group of locals She saw the devastation that the First Order caused on Jakku. People were terrified of this order, and there was nothing that they could do about it. 

   Rey snarled “How is that relevant when your so-called ‘order’ that is supposed to bring peace to the galaxy is killing numerous innocent people just because they do not agree with you?” 

   Kylo didn't say anything, letting her scream quietly at him. 

   Rey looked away and whispered. “And I thought that you could change.” 

She could feel a stab of hurt coming from Kylo. 

   Kylo started to say “Rey”, but she let her anger take over and she asked  “Why did you go this way? I begged you not to, yet you did.” 

   She looked back at Kylo, who had fire in his eyes. 

   “Then why did you shut me out?” Kylo asked a hint of pain just barely detectable in his voice.  

   When she didn't say anything, he asked “Why Rey? When you left with the Falcon, I wanted you to come back. To show me the light that I desperately needed.” 

   Rey was at a loss for words. She knew that he was hurt when she fled on the Falcon. His face, looking up at her with a tear starting to peak out of his eye, showed that he wanted her to stay. But she couldn't. Flying in the Falcon, she had reflected on what had just occurred. The fighting, him proposing for her to rule the First Order by his side, everything. She had tried, yet failed, to convert him to the light side. On a bigger note, he had fought against Luke on Crait, according to Finn. She didn't know how the Master could have gotten off of Ache-To, but Finn and the rest of the Resistance claim that they saw him facing off against Kylo before they fled. Finn didn't see how it ended but based off of her feeling Luke go into the force, he must have done something to affect Luke's death. 

   Rey felt a new surge of anger, and she stood up and pointed at Kylo, saying

 “I know what you did. You played a part in killing Luke Skywalker. You tried to kill the entire resistance! Even though I had told you everything! All of my worries, my fears. For goodness sake, you even know who my parents are!” 

   She moved closer to him until they were about a person’s width apart. She could feel Kylos breath catch in his throat, and when he looked down at her, she saw something in his brown eyes that reminded her of the Kylo that she had communicated with after seeing her reflection and begging to see her parents. Not compassion, but a bit of understanding. 

Rey whispered “Do you know how much it stings when someone says that your parents were nothing. That you were nothing, then tries to cover it up by saying ‘But not to me?” 

  Kylo closed his eyes as if remembering a moment. 

  A couple of moments later he opened his eyes. 

   “Rey. In that moment, I saw us joining together as a union, as light and dark, to face the hatred and evil of the galaxy together.” His eyes didn't leave hers. “Just think about what we could have been. That fight, when I fought with you I felt as if I was fighting with my other half. We worked so well together, Rey.” 

  Rey thought of that battle. She felt fearless. Like a true Jedi. Fighting with Kylo felt so natural. They worked off each other's strengths as if they had been training together for years. 

  She nodded. “I know.” 

   Kylo looked down at her, a surprised expression on his face. He probably did not predict that she would admit to him that something that he said was true. 

   They continued to stand a person's width apart. Rey was sure that he could see her surroundings, as he scanned the room, as she could see his. She didn't know what he was looking for until his eyes landed on something behind her. She was so familiar with the room that she knew that he was looking at. 

   Her bookcase. 

   The Ancient Jedi Texts.  

   Rey saw Kylos eyes change to that of interest, and he brushed by her to start walking over. 

   Her heart started to pound. If Kylo saw what was in those books, he could try to use it to his advantage against her or the Rebellion. That could be dangerous, and she had to do something to stop him. 

   Reaching forward, she hesitantly tapped his shoulder, saying. “No. Those are mine, and they are for my eyes only.” 

   He continued to go forward, and Rey decided that she needed to protect those books at all costs. 

   In a quick move, she darted in front of him. He looked surprised, and when he moved again she placed her hands on his chest to push him away if he attempted to move again. 

   She could feel him tense up underneath her touch, and she was surprised at herself that she was in the position that she was in. 

   What surprised Rey more was that she did not mind having her hands touching the chest of the Supreme Leader. 

   Her mind flashed back to when the Force connected them at one of the worst times for both of them, as they both admitted that they were not in the mood to talk. Yet, when they both turned around, Kylo was shirtless, which made her stop and stare. 

   She had never seen a shirtless man before in her life. 

   Kylo, standing there, was not the image of what she pictured a shirtless man to be. Confident, he stared at her, a smug expression starting to form on his face as Rey looked at him standing there, looking at him. 

   Rey had to admit. It was in some ways better than what she had pictured. 

   And her hands were pushed up against that body. It felt warm underneath her touch, but she could also feel… what were that...muscles… underneath his black robe. 

   Kylo looked down at her as she looked up at him, a similar expression on both of their faces. That of surprise, but also of satisfaction. 

   Rey, realizing that her hands were still on his chest, took them off, walking back to the bed and sitting down. Kylo followed her, standing in front of her, then suddenly turned at a banging sound. Rey looked behind Kylo to a door that was on his side of the connection, the door leading to the cockpit of the ship. 

   Kylo looked alarmed as Rey looked at him and asked. “What was that?” 

   Kylo turned as Rey looked at him questioningly. He opened his mouth, and the only thing that she heard was that of him saying “Rey…” 

   With that, the world went black, spinning around her, and she found herself staring at the space that Kylo had just taken up in her room. 

   She started at the door, feeling the presence of someone running down the hallway, panic filling their mind. She stood up and looked at the door, which soon swung open.  

   Rey saw the face of Finn, his eyes wild. 

   “Finn? What's going on?” She asked. 

   Finn looked upset, even scared. 

   “The First Order. They found us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that the POV change didnt confuse you! This story is probably going to change POV from Kylo to Rey every other chapter, but this is the only time that the same conversation is going to be shown from different POVs (unless you like it, let me know if you do!)   
> As always, thank you for reading! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo goes to attack the Rebellion base, but he has a plan that diverges from that of the First Order - one that involves Rey, and getting to the bottom of their connection.

   Kylo shook his head, trying to get the last Force connection out of his mind, and turned to look at General Stobi, one of his lead Stormtrooper generals, who was pointing to something in front of their shuttle. 

   “The Rebel base is down on the planet. According to some of our spies, they are located on the side of a grey mountain, with their entrance being a black wall, like the one on Crait. They claimed that the Rebellion wanted to build a base that would blend into the mountain and be unnoticeable to the untrained eye.”  
 

  Kylo nodded and looked down at the blue planet. The scans were right - it was small, especially compared to other planets in the system. There were none of the Resistance ships guarding the planet, probably due to the fact that it would be noticeable to their enemies - like the First Order. And the fact that they had to reconstruct a lot of the ships that were destroyed in their past battles with the First Order meant that they were defenseless.  
   

   A perfect time for the First Order to strike. 

   Ever since their Force connection a few hours ago, Kylo had tried to refocus on the mission. He had to have all of his focus in this. But Rey...she kept entering into his mind. Just the look that she had given him when she said “I know,” the feelings of her hands on his chest, the way that they had looked at each other when silence enclosed the room...

   He could not deny the feelings that he has for her. 

   Feelings, that if the rest of the First Order found out about, would get him in major trouble, even killed. 

   When Hux gave his briefing to the men on the ship about the plan, Kylo swallowed his feelings and listened what the general had to say. 

   “The plan.” Hux said, his voice annoying Kylo even over the radio “Is to enter and eliminate the Rebels. Every last, one of them. This is our last chance to crush the Rebellion and bring a new day to the galaxy. A new day of order and First Order rule!”

   The Stormtroopers on Kylo's ship nodded in approval. 

   Kylo looked forward, trying not to have his face betray his feelings. 

   Pulling up his communicator, he addressed his order. 

   “If anyone sees The Last Jedi, notify me immediately. I am the only one who knows how to properly fight against her, and I feel the rage the most. She slaughtered my master, my mentor.” Kylos voice turned to that of fake rage. 

   “She deserves to pay for what she did.” 

   It killed him to say those words, but his troops ate it up. 

   Hux butted in, saying “To all other troops, focus on the stranglers. Attack them. Kill them. Show no mercy. Let the Supreme Leader handle the killing of the Last Jedi.” 

_Didn't I just say that?_   Kylo thought. He remembered on Crait when Hux kept repeating his commands, and how he wanted to Force Choke him badly. 

   By the time that they had gone over everything, their ships were coming down to land on the planet. Kylo looked out the window. The planet was covered with water. It reminded him of the vision in Rey’s head the first time they had interacted with each other. A vision of an island, the island that he knew now that she was training with Luke Skywalker on. That was the first time that he realized that she would be a force that would be hard to control. She read his mind without a second thought, revealing his darkest secret. 

_You are afraid. That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader._

   He shook his head, trying to get her out of his mind. Kylo had to focus on the task ahead of him, which was going to the Rebels base, and hopefully not killing Rey by accident. 

   Once their ships landed on the planet probably about a good mile from the Base, he ordered his troops to unload their advances, which was not that different than the attack on Crait - a couple of AT-M6s and a cannon to barge open the wall protecting the base, if necessary, as well as 500 of the best First Order troops. With a groan, the Walkers came to life, starting to walk towards the base. Kylo recalled to a story that Luke told him when he was younger - one of a battle on Hoth where he told Kylo that the troops could see the Walkers and were prepared to fight them. 

   Realizing a flaw in their attack, Kylo yelled out “Hux!” 

   Hux, in the same AT-M6 that Kylo was in, turned around and faced Kylo. 

   Kylo put his hands behind his back and told Hux “General Hux, what will happen if the Rebels spot our forces? Will they come up with a plan before they spot us?” 

   Hux stopped, looking deep in thought. 

   “Well, Supreme Leader, I suppose.” 

   “Then shouldn't we send some forces in first to keep them occupied, and then send in the Walkers?” Kylo asked, his voice cool but cold. 

   “Who would we send in?” 

   Kylo knew exactly how to answer. 

   “Me, General Hux.” 

   Hux look surprised. 

   “You? Just you Supreme Leader?” Hux sounded doubtful. Kylo could detect the hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

   Kylo could feel himself starting to get upset. 

   “No Hux, 200 of our best troops, and myself.” He growled. 

   Hux raised his eyebrows and answered, “Is this about The Last Jedi?” 

   Kylo stopped. He didn't want Hux to know that he wanted to go in first to make sure that Rey gets to safety. He needed to talk to her, see her in the flesh and blood again. 

   Hux knew he had hit a weak spot, Kylo sensed. Hux leaned in and whispered in a cruel tone “You want to be the one to strike her down. You want to hear her beg for mercy, then kill her without a single compassionate thought. Kill her like you did Han Solo.” 

   Kylo didn't say anything, too shocked at the thought of Rey in pain to say anything. 

   Hux look definitely into Kylo’s eyes, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't answer, Hux turned away and said 

   “I will send the 55th Force to track her down and kill her. She deserves to pay for killing our Supreme Leader.” 

   “General Hux, do you think that is being too harsh? We can just take her prisoner. I can read what is in her mind on the ship and know all of the information about the Rebels.” The 55th Force, Kylo knew, was the most merciless Force that the First Order had. They wouldn't hesitate to strike Rey down without a single thought. 

   Hux spun back around and hissed at Kylo “Then I guess that Snoke was right. You are too soft to be anything, let alone a Supreme Leader. You are nothing but a coward and a child.” 

   That was the breaking point for Kylo. To the surrounding Stormtroopers surprise, he reached out and with the Force, lifted Hux off of the ground, choking him so that he couldn't breathe. He held him there for a moment and declared “I am going to the base first with 100 troops. Then, if I manage to get the Last Jedi, we will return to the ship with her and stop the attack. If I don't, you will continue the attack as planned. Do you understand?” 

   Hux didn't say anything. 

   “DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Kylo roared, and Hux weakly nodded. Kylo waved his hand and let Hux drop to the ground with a thump, gasping for air. 

   Kylo had his own plan - a plan that he knew not to tell any of his other troops.  
________________________________________________________________________  
   The grass below his feet seemed to cushion every one of Kylos steps. He looked down at his feet as he strode along the grass, trying to reach out to find a connection with Rey.  

   If he did connect with her, which would be the best thing to happen at the moment, he would tell her to get out of the base. Tell her that if she met with him he would try to help her escape the attack. Not that the fact was necessarily true, but at this point, Kylo was willing to do anything to find her and convince her to listen to him. Convince her that he wasn't a monster as she thought that he was. 

   Kylo looked back at the 200 Stormtroopers following him, the white of their armor seeming to stick out in contrast to the green grass. He knew that these men were loyal and that they would stop the attack if he commanded - none of them wanted to suffer at the hands of the Supreme Leader's lightsaber. However, there were clouds covering up the star that provided the planet with light, so the day proved to be cloudy, disguising them in the mist that lay on the ground. 

   It was only a couple of more minutes until they came to see a small building sticking out on the side of a cliff. Kylo pulled out his communicator and asked Hux, who was still in the AT-M6 if that was the Rebellion base. 

   “Yes, Supreme Leader. Now, go in quietly, and make sure that they do not notice you or your troops. Remember, we want to eliminate the last remains of the Rebellion. Crush them.” Hux said, signing off before Kylo could say anything. 

   Kylo sighed. He wished that he could choke Hux again from here. 

   Getting closer to the base, he ordered his troops to halt with a wave of his hand. 

   He turned around so he could face them so that his men could see his face when talking. 

   “The plan is to split up. 50 of you will come with me. We will break into one of the entryways by having myself cut the door open with my lightsaber. Then we will go into the base and destroy any rebels that we see. Another 100 of you will enter with me after you get the command from General Hux. The other 50 of you will spread out and try to catch any rebels if they try to flee from the base.” 

    They all nodded. 

   “One of the most important things is that if you see The Last Jedi, be careful. She knows how to use a staff and fend for herself, which can be dangerous.” Kylo took out his lightsaber. “I am the only capable one out of all of us to fight her. Let me know immediately if you come in contact with her, or if you see her. Is that clear.” 

   “Yes, Supreme Leader Ren.” They all chorused, their voices a bit muffled under their helmets. 

    They continued on until Kylo motioned with his hand for them to split up. He could sense life. People, moving around, preparing for something. Kylo looked to where the Force was pulling him. The base, without any windows on this side, seemed to invite him to come in. With his men behind him, he ignited his lightsaber.

    The hum of the saber made Kylo smile. He loved that sound. With no hesitation, Kylo approached a stone wall and thrust his lightsaber into it, starting to make a rectangular shape in the wall with his saber in order to get inside. When Kylo finished, he it down and stepped inside, his lightsaber at the ready. A couple of Stormtroopers moved behind him, but when Kylo moved forward, ready to attack, he hit a door. 

_Why am I so stupid?_ Kylo asked himself. 

   “Sir… you put us in a supply closet.” One of the Stormtroopers muttered, and Kylo turned around, knowing that the saber put a red hue on his face. 

   “Then we use it to our advantage. No one is going to think of the First Order troops coming out of a supply closet, will they?

    Now, we will go out of the supply closet, and catch them by surprise.” Kylo said. He moved to open the door. It didn’t budge. He tried to open it again. 

    “Locked” He muttered to himself. He closed his eyes, feeling around him with the Force until he located a weak point in the chains that held the door closed on the outside. With a snap, he separated them, with the chains falling to the ground on the other side of the door. 

    Some of the Stormtroopers moved up to continue forward, but Kylo held out a hand, motioning for them to wait. Reaching out with the Force again, he felt the presence of about 10 people on the other side of the door, with none of them being Rey. He could also sense that they were holding weapons. 

_Shit. Oh, shit._

    They must have found out that Kylo was coming. Kylo kicked a bucket that was on the ground in frustration. 

    At that point, Kylo didn't know what to do. He knew that he could easily kill them if he wanted to. It didn’t hurt him to kill anymore. Ever since he trained with Snoke, he had become desensitized to the feeling of killing something. But Rey introduced to him something that he thought he would never feel again - emotion. Compassion. Feelings for another person. Deep down, he didn’t want to hurt more people than necessary - traits that he got from his mother. 

    Before Kylo could do anything, he sensed someone on the other side of the door shoot a blaster strong enough to knock the door down. Almost seeing things in slow motion, he motioned for the stormtroopers to enter the base. As soon as the door to the storage closet came crashing down, Kylo ignited his lightsaber and charged into the base behind his troops, some of which dropped down immediately at his feet. 

    Once he entered, the rebels who were attacking looked up at him, a terrified look on their faces. They looked as if they knew that they were going to die soon, probably thinking of the mercy of his lightsaber. 

    Now Kylo knew what Rey had meant when she had called him a monster during their first force session. 

    They stared at him, and Kylo stared back at them until he sensed one of them secretly picking up his blaster to shoot Kylo. Without a second thought when the rebel shot his blaster, Kylo deflected the blaster shot back at the Rebel, who slumped down next to his fellow troops. Kylo braced himself for more heavy fire until three of the other rebels gasped and fell at his feet. The rest of the rebels, shocked, got up to run away, looking back at Kylo to make sure he wasn't following them. 

    Kylo looked up at the bodies to see one of his troops, a younger one, holding a smoking blaster. It was pointed towards the lifeless bodies. Kylo reached out and sensed mixed emotions in the young stormtrooper - ones of fear, pain, but little hints of glory and self - accomplishment. The feelings were contradicting - just like his feelings for the order that he was leading. With a gasp, the Stormtrooper looked up at Kylo, who nodded at him in approval. He didn't need a young Stormtrooper to get any ideas that he was weak. 

    “Go to the left,” Kylo ordered the stormtrooper. “Kill any Rebels you see.” 

    “Yes Supreme Leader,” He said and rushed down to join the other troopers, shooting one of the rebels that came at him. 

    Kylo looked around him. In one direction, 10 of his troops, all still alive but one bleeding badly, were heading down a dark hallway lined with bricks, shooting at the rebels. While he was staring at his troops, he sensed around 3 people behind him, one of them in the front raising a blaster. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and faced the rebels that were coming towards him. In the front was a man, probably around Kylos age, with black curly hair and a brown jacket, looking like handling a blaster is second nature to him. Pointing it at Kylo, he pulled the trigger, only to have Kylo deflect it with his lightsaber into the wall. The man kept shooting, and Kylo kept deflecting the shots, starting to recognize the man as Poe Dameron, the Rebellions star pilot. 

    Kylo and Poe at this point were having a standoff. Poe kept shooting at Kylo, and Kylo kept deflecting the shots at the wall, not wanting to hurt him or the people behind him. Like his father, Kylo wanted to win. He had an inner drive within him, one that would make him go to great lengths to get what he wanted.  
After a good 2 minutes, Kylo was tired of Poe not doing anything to try to advance on him, until Poe stopped shooting and started to run forward with a battle cry, shooting his blaster at an even further rate. He deflected one of the shots at a man behind the black haired rebel, who went down with a scream of pain. The man stopped firing and turned around to see the conditions of his fellow soldier, and Kylo took the moment to start twirling his lightsaber in front of him to frighten the rebels. When he did that, he saw the look on the rebels faces. The look of fear. Kylo, being groomed by the hands of the dark side for the last decade, started to advance towards Poe and his men when he felt a ripple in the Force. 

    “STOP!” A voice called out from behind him. 

    Kylo stopped. He reached out, trying to sense who it was, when he felt a force tugging at him, softly, but then progressing to a tug that ripped his lightsaber out of his hand and into the hands of Rey, who was standing in front of about 20 knocked out stormtroopers. 

    Kylo, not believing his eyes, looked at her in wonder. Rey, standing there in the flesh, looked at him with fire in her eyes. Breathing heavily, her dark hair was starting to come out of the bun that she had in her hair. Her cheeks were flushed. To Kylo, she looked radiant standing in front of him, fresh out of battle. It was better than what he had pictured in his dreams. 

  Rey put her staff, which was in her left hand, to the ground, and hesitantly ignited Kylo's lightsaber, reminding him of the throne room fight. Kylo seemed to lose his breath at the view of her holding his ignited saber. 

   Before Kylo could say or do anything, she pointed it at him. 

   In a low voice, Rey whispered: “You will come with me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I have been really busy, so for those who have been reading, thank you for being so patient! :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Rey have finally come physically face to face with each other for the first time since Crait. Kylo tries asking Rey a question that might change their lives and put them both in danger, and Rey comes to the realization that something she thought was finished was only just beginning.

     Rey couldn't believe what had happened. Standing there, in front of both Poe and Kylo, holding the Supreme Leader's lightsaber. She had seen the way that Kylo looked at her when she snatched the lightsaber out of his hands with the Force, reminding her of the time when she first used the Force to summon an object on Starkiller Base. The way that he looked at her was one of pure awe and fascination. He had the same look on his face now, perhaps with a little more...what was it...longing.

     Rey looked around to make sure that there were no other Stormtroopers around them, and without a second thought, she ignited the lightsaber, the redness of it seems to light up her face. Kylo didn't move or attempt to get it back. He just stood there, looking at her. It was a bit heavy, Rey noticed, when she pointed it towards Kylo and hissed “You will come with me.”

     Poe, who was tending to Carrieth Tilburg, one of their trusted members of the ground troops, looked at Rey in shock.

     “Rey… what are you doing?” He asked in a wary tone. Rey knew that he was probably a bit wary of Rey going into an individual room with Kylo, since the last time he was in the same situation, he got tortured.

     But Poe didn't know Kylo the way that Rey did.

     “Poe, don't worry. I will be fine. Just keep tending to General Tilburg, and make sure that no Stormtroopers know where we are going.” Rey turned around to face Kylo and mentioned with her head for him to follow her.

     “So you are taking him, prisoner? Rey, don't you realize how dangerous this is? This man is the Supreme Leader! He could have a tracking device or something on him from the First Order!” Poe seemed aggravated with Rey, standing up to face her. “He could easily call the rest of his troops to slaughter us right here!” Rey opened her mouth to say something, but Poe walked forward until he was face to face with Rey. Through the Force, she could feel Kylo tense up. She didn't know why.

     “Poe, calm down…”

     “Rey, don't tell me to calm down!” Poe was pissed. He pointed a finger at Kylo. “This man is dangerous! He is a monster who would be willing to kill anyone in order to get what he wants.”

     Rey could feel Kylo flinch at being called a monster. Looking at him, she noticed that he was starting to look very nervous, not like a Supreme Leader, but a scared child.

     “How can he be dangerous when he doesn't even have his weapon?”

     “By the use of the Force!! God, out of everyone I know, how do you not know that? He could snap your neck and kill you in a second!” Rey was warned when she first met Poem that sometimes he was a bit of a hot-head, saying first and thinking second, wanting to be a hero in a situation. She could tell why people said that.

     Rey opened her mouth to say something when Kylo quietly said “I am willing to subject myself to the captivity of the Rebellion.”

     Both Rey and Poe turned to look at him. To Rey's surprise, Kylo got down to his knees and placed his comlink in front of him. He looked up at Rey with a blank look on his face.

     Rey, turned towards Poe and whispered “Is this enough for you?”

     Poe, seeming to have calmed down, looked back at Rey and said “He seems timid now, but I would hate to lose one of the strongest fighters we have.” He looked back at Kylo, whose head was bowed, just waiting to see what happened to him. He wasn't looking at them, Rey noticed, but she could feel him monitoring her every motion with the Force.

     Poe didn't notice that, however, when he handed Rey a little comlink with a button attached to the back. It was small enough that Rey could fit it into her pocket without anyone noticing it. Well, anyone who didn’t have Force abilities.

     “I am trusting you with this, Rey. Push this if you feel threatened at any moment, and I will make sure that the proper people come to your aid.” He slid up his shirt a bit so that Rey could see a similar comlink attached to his belt. Rey could feel Kylo feeling around it with the Force, and she put it in her pocket with a “Thank you.”  
     Turning around, Rey pointed the Supreme Leader's lightsaber towards him.

     “For my sake, Kylo, don't step out of line. I would hate to see anything chopped off, as I know that Skywalkers have a habit of losing limbs.”

     Kylo shot her a glare, and she motioned for him to stand up. He did, and she went around behind him, having his lightsaber be close to his back. She knew that he could feel the heat of his own weapon against him, and she secretly hoped that she didn't have to do anything to hurt this man.

     As they walked down the hallway, Rey could hear the screams of the other Rebels as they were fighting against the Stormtroopers in the base. She couldn't believe that even though they knew that the First Order was coming, that it was still hard to fight against them. She reached out to try to get a sense of what Kylo was feeling. She knew that he didn't want to hurt any more people than were necessary - she felt that whenever he heard the screams and the blaster shots. He felt strangely calm. Like he was up to something.

     Rey knew that she had to get him away from everyone else, and she was willing to isolate herself with him as long as it meant him not hurting the other members of the Rebellion.

     She looked behind her to see Poe still glancing in her direction, making sure that Kylo didn't try to pull an escape. After they rounded a corner and went out of Poes sight, Rey felt around her. She noticed that they were close to her bedroom - a room that Leia had made sure was built to be close, yet far, from all of the other antics in the base. She honestly would prefer any other room, but this one was the closest, and they could talk in private.

     A perfect place to hide a prisoner.

     “Keep walking,” Rey ordered, motioning the saber a bit so it would make a noise. Kylo glanced back a little bit to look at her, and then when she caught him staring, looked forward. Rey didn't know what was going on with him.

     When they came to her bedroom, Rey told Kylo “Okay, turn here.” Kylo did so, and as soon as they were in the room, Rey shut off the lightsaber and moved to lock the door.

     Feeling a thump as if she had been tackled, Rey hit the ground and looked up to see Kylo standing above her with his lightsaber, thankfully not activated, in his hands.

     Not looking up at him, Rey asked “What are you doing Kylo?”

     Kylo shot her a smug grin. “You really didn't think you would be taking me, prisoner, did you?”

     Rey gulped. It was the first time they had interacted, in person, since she left him on Crait. He was a lot taller than she had remembered, and his shoulders were a lot broader, blocking out the light streaming in through the window. His black hair was shorter, but still flowing around his face like a mane. His scars were same, and his eyes… they were still the same chocolate brown, and they were giving her a soft look. She could tell that Kylo was looking at her the same way that she was looking at him - with interest, seeing what was different since the last time they had seen each other. But there was something in his eyes that she could not figure out.

     But she couldn't show him any interest. Not when he was the leader of a regime that was known for killing some of the people that she cared about. Not when he killed someone who she cared about.

     Rey, still on the floor, scowled at him. “Well, it was the only way that we could be alone.” Kylo raised his eyebrows, and Rey quickly added “To talk. About what we had discussed in our last Force Connection.” Rey tried to get up, but she felt like she had invisible ropes that were pinning her to the floor. Looking up, she asked “Can you please let me stand up?”

     Kylo motioned with a finger, and she stood up, brushing her knees off.

     “Why did you let me take you as my ‘prisoner so easily?” Rey asked him. Kylo didn't hear her. He was busy looking around her room, just like in the Force Connection. Good thing that Rey had predicted this event coming. She had hidden the Jedi Texts in a secret vault in the back storage of the Base. Somewhere that not even Kylo could find. The vault, custom made by Leia, consisted of a material that made it extremely hard to track and look into using the Force. Rey even tried to find her own books when she was preparing for battle, and she only found them because, well, she placed them there.

     Just as he was approaching the bookshelf and knelt down to look through, Rey plainly said: “They aren't here.”

     Kylo turned and glanced at Rey, surprise in his eyes.

     “Also, you didn't answer my question. How come you had such an easy time letting me take you away, and not even trying to resist?”

     Kylo got up and walked over to Rey, stopping when he was right in front of her, so she had to look up at him in order to speak to him.

     “Trust me, it wasn't my intention to be held captive by you,” Kylo said. Rey cocked her head, wondering what his intention was.

     “Then what was your intention?” She asked, looking up at him. They were as close as they were in the Force Connection, so close that Rey could feel the little tingle of Kylo breathing out on her chin. Why did they always have to be this close when they were talking?

     “Because I had to see you.” Kylo breathed. Rey’s eyes widened in surprise. That was not what she was expecting. “I had to make sense of all of this.”

     “All of what?”

     “The connection between us. It is obviously there, Rey, and I don't know how it started, why it occurs, but the only thing that I do know about it is that it has linked me to the one person who knows more about me than any other person does.” Kylo looked down at Rey. “I wanted to figure out why it happens. Because if it happens after Snoke is dead, it is clear that he didn't make it. I thought that by talking to you, we can figure it out together.”

     Rey took a step back so that there was even more distance between her and Kylo.

     “Why? Do you want them to stop?” Rey asked a little hurt. She actually didn't mind all of their Force connections. Before the Throne Room, they would comfort each other, telling each other their fears and about how alone each of them felt, and assure each other about how they were not alone.

     Kylo stepped forward, closing the gap between them.

     “No, Rey. I want them to continue. I want to be able to talk to you whenever I want, and for the duration that I want. We shouldn't have to subject ourselves to the time limit that is placed on us.” Kylo looked thrilled, he looked at Rey with a sparkle in his eye.

     “But why? Why would you want to talk to me? You have the entire galaxy at your fingertips, Kylo. You are the most powerful man in the galaxy and can speak to anyone, especially someone who isn't part of the Rebellion. Do you realize what this could do to you, and to me if we keep this up?”

     “Rey, you are the only other person in the galaxy who seems to get me. Even though we had different upbringings, we both are looking for some sort of comfort in our lives. I feel… comforted when you are around. Like someone actually gets me. Gets what it is like to feel alone.”

     “I am not alone.” Rey snapped. “I have Finn, and Poe-”

     “But no one who knows who had Force abilities like you do.” Rey was silent. For the first time since she had met him, Kylo was right.

     “Yes,” Rey whispered.

     “I need someone like that too. Someone who is my equal in the Force” Kylo admitted, turning from her and walking towards the window in her room. The clouds were starting to clear, and the sun was starting to shine through. He looked back at her, the sun starting to light up his black hair.

“     And honestly, I don't give a damn about if the First Order knows. I just need to know that you are there. I could always play it off as spying on the enemy. They are terrified of me anyways, so if they find out, I could…” Kylo looked at Rey and she gasped.

     “You are not going to kill anyone who finds out.”

     Kylo laughed. “No. Just erase their memories.”

     Rey sighed in relief.

     “But they will think that I could snap their neck if I thought of it, so they would want to attempt it.”

     “But what about me? If the Rebellion knows that I am communication with the Supreme Leader, they would for sure brand me a traitor. And for everything that I have worked so hard for, I don't want to be banished from the place that I now call home.” Rey glanced down at the stone floor.

     “I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

     She was silent for a moment and then slowly knelt. Rey thought of all of the people that have left in her life. Her parents, Han Solo, Master Luke Skywalker, and now possibly Finn and Poe. The Rebellion is finally a place that she can call home - a place where she feels like she can excel, try anything she wants to without being punished. She is the Last Jedi, so she can try new things with the Force without any judgment.

     Rey didn't want to lose them to talk to the Supreme Leader. Rey rarely showed emotion in front of anyone, but in front of Kylo, she felt like she could say or do anything and he wouldn't judge. She did cry when they touched hands in the hut, for a reason that even today she still cant place.

     Kylo walked over and knelt down next to her, his cape seeming to lay like a black puddle around his feet.

     In a quiet voice, he asked “Rey?”

     When she didn't say anything, he placed a hand on her knee.

     With that, she felt a spark fly through her. Rey was pretty sure that Kylo felt the same thing. She looked at him at the same time that he looked at her, her hazel eyes meeting his brown. His gorgeous, brown eyes…

     Rey quickly got up. She wouldn't let herself fall for this man. Not if she could help it. Even though it was so tempting, she couldn't betray the people that she cared about. Even though every muscle in her body was urging her to get closer, closer, to him still kneeling on the floor, it took every ounce of strength to try to resist it. She had thought about herself her entire life, for once she had to think about other people. She couldn't be selfish.

     But he was there. He wanted to talk to her, wanted to communicate with her, wanted to try to help her figure everything out. Sometimes Rey felt like he was the only other person in the entire galaxy who actually got her. Got what she was feeling, got what she was talking about when she explained to him that she was feeling so alone, so lonely. When they touched hands in the hut, she felt something go through them, and it wasn't just seeing his future. It was knowing that there was someone else that got what she was feeling. After all of the years of being alone and feeling like the world hated her and that she would never find anyone who felt the same way, she finally found it in the man that was destined in the stars to be her mortal enemy. She had heard the legends about how Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader started out as enemies (before they found that they were father and son) and then just before Vader’s death, Luke brought him back from the dark into the light.

     Rey had tried that once. She tried to bring him over, yet look where it had got him. It got him as the Supreme Leader of the First Order, a job to fulfilled by the person that thrives in the dark side. Yet, as Rey looked over at him now, she realized that the job that she had started when she shipped herself to Kylo was not finished like she thought. Even though he seemed to portray a certain side of himself to his troops and his regime, the way that he was looking at her now was not one of an evil leader. It was a gentle look, almost a pleading look, like the one that he had given her when he stretched out his hand and asked her to join him.  
She had told Master Luke that she would bring Kylo Ren back from the dark to the light. She thought that she had given up all hope when he asked her to join him and became Supreme Leader. That he was irredeemable. But maybe, just maybe, Rey could use these connections for good. Kylo Ren, in her eyes, was redeamable.

     Suddenly, Rey realized that job was only getting started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! :)) Im sorry that this chapter took so long to write - but its finally here! I hope that you like it, this has been one of my favorite chapters to write so far!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first Reylo fic so I hope that you like it!


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